Lauri Markkanen signed an enormous extension late in the summertime to stick with the Utah Jazz long-term. Since then, all of his stats have gotten worse — together with his free-throw capturing.
The Jazz had a 12-point lead late in opposition to the Indiana Pacers, however ended up dropping, 112-111. With the Jazz trailing by two and 17 seconds left on the clock, Markkanen went to the road and missed each of his free throws. He could have missed the second deliberately, regardless of there being far an excessive amount of time left for that gambit. Or he merely missed horribly.
it has been unhealthy throughout the board this season for Utah’s former All-Star ahead. Markkanen’s scoring dropped from 23.2 to 19.4 factors per sport. His rebounds went from 8.2 to six.2, his assists from two to 1.7, blocks from 0.5 to 0.4. His discipline objectives dropped 57 share factors, his three-point capturing dropped 51 factors and his free-throw capturing went from .899 to .869.
It will drop extra after the 2 late misses Monday. It is true that the Utah Jazz are of their third straight season of a rebuild, also referred to as a tank job, however the dropping could also be carrying on Markkanen. He is struggled with again points this yr, however he merely could be disheartened with Utah’s woeful 11-37 file.
However with a robust draft class headline by Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Utah’s finest hope for enchancment could be to pair Markkanen with a younger celebrity prospect. Possibly Markkanen is not slumping. Possibly he is simply the last word group participant.
